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Bill Nugent

A Travis County grand jury declined to indict UT System Regent Wallace Hall on Tuesday on charges of abuse of office, misuse of information and official oppression. However, it took the unusual step of issuing a report condemning Hall and calling for his removal.

The UT System Board of Regents will meet Wednesday to consider facilitating requests from Regent Wallace Hall Jr. to look into information gathered about controversial UT admission practices.

In early March, Hall asked to meet with Bill Nugent, senior managing director for Kroll, an investigation company, regarding a report released in February. The report, which the UT System commissioned, came in response to an investigation into admission policies at UT-Austin.

The investigation undertaken by Kroll found that UT-Austin President William Powers Jr. had pressured admission officials to admit a “select handful” of applicants each year. McRaven defended the admission process because no laws or rules were broken, but McRaven said he would attempt to institute changes in the future.

The UT System commissioned Kroll to conduct an external investigation of the admissions process after Hall alleged that UT-Austin administrators were admitting under-qualified applicants with connections to prominent legislators.

A few days after his request to meet with Nugent, Hall requested an opportunity to read through “any and all information, confidential and otherwise, that is related to the Kroll investigation that was originally slated for destruction,” according to a statement released by the UT System.

No one from Kroll will be in attendance at the meeting Wednesday, according to UT System spokeswoman Jenny Caputo.

The board now operates under a new rule, which was adopted in February 2014, that specifies all information requests must go through the chairman and chancellor, Caputo said. If either person has concerns, then the request is discussed at a meeting with all regents present.

In accordance with the rule, Chairman Paul Foster and Chancellor William McRaven decided to call a meeting with the other regents to decide whether Hall’s request would be granted. If two or more regents agree that Hall’s requests should be allowed, then the requests, “will be filled without delay,” according to the statement.

“The purpose of the rule is to demonstrate the board’s commitment to providing transparency to the public to the fullest extent allowed by law, while ensuring protection of confidential information and personal privacy,” Caputo said.